Hsiung-Nu

noun

shēˈu̇ŋˈnü

plural Hsiung-Nu

: an ancient horse-using people related to or identical with the Huns, including the Jung and Ti peoples of Chinese history, and recorded in Chinese annals as being a powerful nation and in the 3d century b.c. occupying all the country between the Caspian sea and the Great Wall and dominating much of Mongolia

Word History

Etymology

Chinese (Pekingese) hsiung¹ nu², from hsiung¹ cruel, fierce + nu² slave, servant

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